


Straw and Gold

by betsib



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rumpelstiltskin, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 13:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1389760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico is tasked with spinning straw into gold in order to marry a princess. Things don't exactly go as expected. Rumpelstiltskin AU. Birthday gift for Midnightinjapan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Straw and Gold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MidnightinJapan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightinJapan/gifts).



> Happy birthday, love!
> 
> I took some liberties with the story again, as always.

The room was full of straw.

Nico stared at it as the door slammed shut behind him, trapping him inside for the night. He didn’t know what to do. His eyes wandered to the spinning wheel, and for a moment he fought with the urge to throw it down and stomp on it.

Nico closed his eyes and took a deep, shaking breath, trying to get his emotions under control. Violence wouldn’t help him. Not that anything else would, either.

“This is ridiculous. How would you even spin gold from straw?” Nico muttered, glaring angrily at the spinning wheel. Then he sighed and sat down in front of it, figuring he might as well try. He tried, and tried and tried, but no matter what he did the straw remained straw.

Nico let out frustrated scream and covered his face with his hands, trying not to cry. He gave up. He couldn’t do it. He’d failed his father _again_ , and they would be the laughing stock of the kingdom because of it. His father would never forgive him.

“You know, if you hadn’t boasted that you could do the impossible you wouldn’t be in this mess,” a voice said behind him, and Nico nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around to see a young man standing by the water basin, grinning at him. He had dark hair and eyes like the sea, and Nico was mesmerized for a moment before realizing what the man had said.

“I didn’t boast _anything!_ ” he said angrily. “And how did you get in here?”

“The water basin, obviously,” the man shrugged. “And people only get into these kinds of messes by bragging, so you must have done something.”

“It wasn’t me,” Nico said bitterly. “It wasn’t even about me. My father told the king how amazingly talented my sister was, and the king felt his future son-in-law should have the same abilities as his wife would have had.”

“So your sister could spin straw to gold?” the man whistled, sounding impressed. “What happened to her?”

“That’s none of your business,” Nico said, fighting a lump in his throat. “And of course she couldn’t. My father just likes bragging about her.”

“Well, it’s not that hard, really,” the man said. “I could help you, you know.”

Nico gave him an incredulous look. “What?”

“I could spin the gold for you, if you want me to,” the man grinned. 

“Can you really do that?” Nico asked, not quite daring to believe it.

“Piece of cake,” the man said. “The question is: Why should I?” He sounded expectant rather than mean, and Nico sighed.

“What do you want in return?” he asked. “I don’t have much.”

“I don’t need much, just something of emotional value to get the magic going,” the man said, smiling almost apologetically. “How about that necklace of yours?”

Nico hesitated, fingering the beads around his neck. It had been a present from Bianca, but if wasn’t the only thing he had left from her. Still, he hesitated a while before handing it over. The man studied it for a moment, then grinned.

“Yeah, this will do,” he said, putting the necklace into his pocket and sitting down in front of the spinning wheel. Nico gasped as he begun to spin. The straw moved like water through his hands, and somehow turned to a thin, gold thread in the process. He walked a bit closer to get a better look, but he didn’t understand how it worked. It must have been magic, like the man said.

“So, kid, what’s your name?” the man asked as he spun the straw into gold like it was the easiest thing in the world. Nico blushed for no particular reason.

“Nico,” he said. “Who are you?”

“Your friendly neighborhood water spirit,” the man laughed. “And you shouldn’t give your name so easily, Nico. Names have power. Well, not so much over humans, but still. ”

Nico could feel his cheeks growing hotter. “What do I call you, then?”

“Generally people don’t call me, I just turn up and help when I feel like it,” the spirit said. “Usually when people get themselves into messes like this. It’s rare that it isn’t your fault, though.”

“I feel so special,” Nico muttered, causing the spirit to laugh again. He had a really pleasant laugh.

“So Nico, we’ve got time. Tell me your story.”

Nico hesitated a bit before beginning. “My father is a wealthy man, but he’s not nobility, though he would like to be. That’s why he offered Bianca as a bride to the widowed king. My sister was beautiful, and had a considerable dowry, so the king agreed.”

“And then?” the spirit asked when Nico fell quiet. He took a deep breath before continuing.

“Then she...had an accident, and I was promised to the king’s daughter instead, for the same amount of money, maybe a bit more,” Nico said. “Which would have been the end of it, if my father hadn’t started talking about how great Bianca was compared to me. I don’t even know where the idea about straw and gold came from, but the king took it at face value and wanted me to prove I can do the same. Obviously, I can’t.”

“And what happens if you don’t succeed?” the spirit asked.

“The deal is off, dishonor on my family, possibly exile, that sort of thing,” Nico said gloomily. “Not to mention my father would blame me for everything.”

“Lucky for you I turned up, then,” the spirit said with another mesmerizing grin. Nico forced himself to look away.

“Yeah, I’m a really lucky guy,” he muttered. The spirit frowned at him.

“Are you okay?”

Nico shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “I’m fine.”

“Seems to me you’ve got a pretty nice future ahead of you, marrying a princess and all,” the spirit said in a teasing tone. “Or isn’t she pretty enough for you?”

“I’ve never met her.”

The spirit hesitated suddenly, then stopped spinning and turned around to look at Nico, frowning.

“Maybe I shouldn’t do this,” he said. Nico stared at him, panicked.

“What? You have to,” he said. “I already paid you. Please.”

The spirit was still looking at him uncomfortably. “Are you sure you wouldn’t be happier if I didn’t do this?”

“It’s for the good of my family,” Nico said, pleading.

“If you’re sure,” the young man said reluctantly, then turned back towards the spinning wheel again, working in silence now. When he was finished, way quicker than Nico thought he would be, he stood up and placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder.

“See you around, Nico. And good luck,” he said, then walked over to the water basin and disappeared. Nico blinked, absentmindedly touching his shoulder as he stared at the spot where the man had been just moments before. Even with all the gold surrounding him, he hadn’t really believed the other wasn’t human until now.

Nico looked around wearily. He still had at least a third of the night left before they let him out of there, so Nico lay down on the floor to get some sleep, haunted by a pair of sea-green eyes.

***

Nico sighed deeply as he entered another roomful of straw. Of course the King wanted to “make sure there was no trick involved“ before he handed over his daughter's hand to Nico. He had actually seen her now, a pretty girl with dark skin and curly cinnamon hair. They hadn’t been allowed to speak, though. Not that Nico was particularly inclined to.

So here he was again, in the same situation as before. He had tried to make up a lie that spinning gold was very complex and not something he could do easily or often, but the king hadn’t listened. At least his father had kept his mouth shut this time.

“You keep getting into trouble, don’t you?” a voice said behind him, and Nico turned around with a smile, trying to ignore his blushing cheeks. The water spirit stood by the water basin, grinning at him and looking as handsome as Nico remembered.

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” he said, and the water spirit shrugged.

“There’s not a whole lot happening right now,” he said. “And I was curious to see how you were doing.”

“So are you here to help me or laugh at me?”

“Bit of both, possibly,” the spirit said with a good-natured laugh. “If you’re sure you want me to. I’m going to need another payment, though.”

“Will this do?” Nico asked, handing over a ring that used to be his mother’s. She had wanted him to give it to his future wife as an engagement ring, but Nico had been wearing it himself for years after his mother died, and his father was having new rings created for his engagement to the princess, anyway. Giving it to the water spirit caused him to blush again.

The spirit raised an eyebrow as he took it. He examined it for a moment, then nodded. “It’s perfect,” he said, giving Nico a brief smile. “You sure you want to part with it, though?”

“I don’t. That’s the point, isn’t it?” Nico said, and the water spirit gently patted his back as he sat down in front of the spinning wheel again. The straw moved through his hands like before, like a golden river spun to thread.

“I know you don’t want to give me your name,” Nico said. “But it would be nice to have something to call you.”

The spirit hesitated. “Percy,” he finally said. “Not my actual name, but that’s what my friends call me. You don’t seem the type to misuse it.”

“Percy,” Nico repeated, tasting the word. It seemed a strange thing to call a water spirit, but it did kinda fit the man sitting in front of him.

“So how come you have to redo this, anyway?” Percy asked. “You’d think once would be enough.”

“You’d think,” Nico sighed and sat down on the floor beside the wheel, leaning against the wall. “The king said he wanted to make sure there was no trick involved, but to be honest I think he just got greedy. He has sworn to approve the engagement after this, though.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Percy asked, sounding a bit concerned.

“I don’t have much of a choice, really,” Nico shrugged. “And being exiled and ridiculed would be a much worse fate for my family.”

“Still, marrying against your will is never a good idea,” Percy said. “You might end up really unhappy.”

“I don’t think I had a great chance of happiness either way,” Nico said, trying not to sound bitter. 

“What do you mean?” Percy asked, but Nico just shook his head. This really wasn’t something he wanted to discuss. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of Percy spinning. He had a comforting presence and Nico really enjoyed his company. A bit too much, even. It was probably a good thing that he was unlikely to ever meet him again after this, even though the thought honestly made him want to cry.

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until a gentle hand on his shoulder woke him up. Nico found himself looking up into Percy’s sea-green eyes mere inches away from his own. He blushed deeply as Percy grinned at him.

“You were sleeping like a baby,” he laughed as he leaned back and subsequently put more distance between them. “It was really cute. I had half a mind to take you home with me.”

Nico attempted to scowl in spite of his burning cheeks. “Do you usually kidnap people?”

“No, but for you I might make an exception,” Percy said, his sea-green eyes glittering. “Might be a good solution to your problems, now that I think about it.”

“You mean you could take me away from here, just like that?” Nico asked, wide eyed.

Percy nodded. “I could. If you wanted me to.”

Nico stared at him. It was tempting, really. Unbelievably tempting. But he couldn’t just run away. Besides, he didn’t really know Percy that well. What would he be agreeing to by going with him?

He slowly shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “But thank you.”

Percy looked a bit disappointed, but nodded. “I get it,” he said. “Well, shout for me if you change your mind.”

He got up from the floor, stretching a bit before playfully ruffling Nico's hair. “I’ll see you around, Nico. Take care of yourself.”

With that, he walked over to the water basin and was gone. Nico looked after him for a long time, wondering if he had just made a terrible mistake.

***

The engagement party was a pretty large affair. Nico’s father was absolutely in his element, happily mingling with the invited noblemen. Nico himself, on the other hand, just wished the party would end soon, and his future bride seemed to share the sentiment.

He hadn’t been given much opportunity to talk to the princess, apart from the expected pleasantries. They were engaged now, but the only thing he knew about her was her name, Hazel. Nico kept glancing over at her throughout the dinner. She was dressed in a beautiful green gown embroidered with a familiar gold thread, but seemed worse off than he was, looking like she was going to start crying any second. She had managed to hold her tears so far, but Nico doubted she would last much longer. He felt terrible about it. It hadn’t even occurred to him that the princess might hate the idea of marrying as much as he did.

The party finally ended, and Nico went to his room. He waited until most people had gone to sleep, then went to look for the princess’ chambers. He needed to talk to her about this privately, and considering most people around the castle were drunk right now he might never have a better opportunity. He wasn’t afraid of getting caught, sneaking around unnoticed had always been easy for him.

When Nico reached her chambers he could hear the princess crying through the door, but there were no other voices, so she was probably alone. He took a deep breath and knocked.

“Who’s there?” the princess asked on the other side of the door, sounding startled and afraid. Nico winced. He hadn’t meant to scare her.

“It’s Nico,” he said. “I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

For a moment nothing happened, and Nico was starting to think they were going to have to have this conversation through the door, then it slowly opened, and princess Hazel became visible. She had managed to dry her tears, though it was still pretty clear she had been crying.

“This isn’t really appropriate,” she said carefully, and Nico saw she was ready to slam the door in his face if he made one wrong move. “What do you want?”

“I want to ask if you want out of the engagement,” Nico said, getting straight to the point. “I’m only doing this for the sake of my father and my family name, but I don’t want you to be unhappy. I can end the engagement if you want me to.”

She stared at him for a long time. “No,” she said finally, sounding desperate. “No, you can’t end it. It’s the only way I...I’m sorry, I have to...”

She started crying again, slipping back into her room and sinking down to sit on her bed with her head in her hands. She left the door open, though, so Nico took a step inside and carefully closed it behind him.

“I don’t understand,” he said quietly. “I can clearly see you don’t want this, so why are you asking me not to end it?” 

“I...I _can’t!_ ” Hazel said between sobs. “My father would kill me if he knew!”

Nico carefully walked over to her and put a hand on her arm. “I swear I won’t tell your father,” he said. “Just please, tell me what’s wrong. Is there anything I could do to help?”

She looked up at him. Tears were streaming down her face and her lips were shaking, but her voice was steady when she spoke. 

“I’m pregnant.”

Nico blinked. “So,” he said slowly, starting to understand. “You want us to get married so everyone will think the child is mine?”

Hazel nodded. “My father would go mad if he found out,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do this to you, but I didn’t even know you so I thought it would work. Please, promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“I promise,” Nico said. “Would it even be possible to pass it off as mine, though? The date for the wedding isn’t even set.” 

“I thought the engagement would happen sooner, and that I could convince father to make the wedding follow quickly after that,” Hazel said. “It’s been about a month and a half. I don’t think it’s going to work anymore.”

“Who’s the father?” Nico asked, and Hazel took a shaking breath before answering.

“His name is Frank. He’s from an old family, but they have no money so father didn’t approve. We were planning to elope when father started taking about marrying me to someone else,” she said. “The day before we were supposed to go father sent him off to the east, to fight in a war. I don’t even know if he’s… if...”

Nico gently put an arm around her. “I’m sure he’ll be okay,” he said, trying to sound reassuring.  
“In the meantime, I have a proposal.”

She looked up at him, clearly scared. Nico smiled at her. “I could go talk to your father tomorrow and ask him to let the wedding take place within a week. If I promise to spin him more gold he will probably agree. That way the baby can still be passed off as mine, if we make it seem like it's born a little early.”

“Could you do that?” Hazel asked, drying her tears with the back of her sleeve. “I mean, you said it wasn’t easy.”

“It might fail,” Nico admitted. “I’m not the one spinning, and if my friend don’t appear to help me then there’s nothing I can do. But if I fail, my family name is ruined anyway. Just tell them I raped you and the axe will fall on me, not you.”

Her eyes went wide. “You would risk that?” she asked, bewildered. “Why?”

Nico shrugged. “It’s the best way for everyone,” he said. “Your father gets the money, my father gets to become nobility, you get to keep your baby.”

“And you?” she asked. “What do you get?”

“I get to not be a disappointment for once.” 

***

The room was twice as full this time. There were literally straw everywhere, it even covered half of the water basin. Nico walked over to it.

“Percy,” he said. “I need your help.”

“Again?” came a voice from behind him. “I thought you were engaged already.”

Percy looked different when Nico turned around. He wasn’t smiling, for one thing. His brows were furrowed, and his expression was almost hurt, though Nico didn’t understand why.

“I am,” Nico confirmed. “But If I can do this the king has agreed to let me marry his daughter within two days.”

“Why the urgency?” Percy asked. “Why can’t you wait for...for however long it usually takes?”

“Because he might change his mind,” Nico lied. He didn’t feel good about it, but he had promised Hazel not to tell anyone, after all. And it wasn’t a complete lie. The king might very well change his mind.

“Isn’t that what you wanted, though? You never wanted to marry the princess in the first place,” Percy said crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I do now,” Nico shrugged. 

“So it was, what? Love at first sight?” Percy asked, sounding strangely bitter.

“It’s not that,” Nico said uncomfortably. “Look, just help me with this. Please. I promise I won’t ask again.”

“If it’s not love, then what is it? Is this about you becoming king someday?” Percy asked, narrowing his eyes. “Is that what you’re after? Power?”

“No, that’s not it,” Nico said, but Percy was still looking at him suspiciously.

“It’s a lot of straw,” he said. “My price will be high.”

“Name it,” Nico said. He didn’t have much left, but maybe there was something Percy would want.

“Your firstborn.”

Nico stared at him, sure he had heard wrong. His firstborn, as in a baby? Did Percy just ask him for a baby? Suddenly he was very glad he had declined to go with him last time, though he wondered if the other was actually serious. 

“My firstborn, as in the first child born from my seed?” he clarified, shocked when Percy nodded. There was a smug look on his face that Nico didn’t like. He was tempted to back out, but on the other hand, for Hazel’s sake…

“Agreed,” Nico said, figuring he didn’t really have anything to lose. ”Do it.”

Percy looked at him in disbelief, which quickly turned into disappointment and disgust. “I can’t believe this,” he said. “You’re not who I thought you were.”

Nico’s eyes widened as he realized it had been some kind of test, and he had failed it. “Percy...” he tried.

“Don’t call me that!” Percy said angrily. “I’ll do this, but I don’t want to speak to you or see you again until the day I come for my payment. In fact, don’t even look at me.”

Nico had never seen him look so furious before. As much as he wanted to explain himself, he didn’t dare open his mouth again during the whole time Percy was spinning. When his was finished, he stalked off towards the water basin and disappeared. Nico looked after him for a moment, then sunk down on the floor and wept.

***

The wedding took place two days later, as promised. Despite it being a much smaller event than had originally been planned, Nico’s father had never looked so satisfied. He even told Nico he was proud of him, which should have made Nico happy, but it didn’t make him feel anything. After what happened with Percy he felt pretty numb. He had told Hazel everything the night before, and she had tried her best to comfort him. They were starting to become good friends, which was the only upside to the whole situation.

Nico and Hazel both tried to seem happy throughout the evening, but he doubted anyone really bought it. The kiss they shared at the end of the ceremony couldn’t be described as anything but brotherly by even the blindest audience. 

Hazel held his hand throughout the banquet, which was a comfort to them both. When it was finally over they were brought to their new, shared chamber.

“I’ll sleep on the floor if you want me to,” Nico offered.

Hazel gave him a smile. “It’s okay, we can share the bed. I know you’re not going to do anything,” she said. “I almost feel like you’re my brother, you know.”

“Me too,” Nico said, gently ruffling her hair a bit. “Let’s go to sleep.”

Being married to Hazel wasn’t a bad life, really. Of course, people expected him to be king one day, so there were lessons and duties and whatnot to fill his day, but it wasn’t that different from living with his father, except he didn’t feel like he was as much of a disappointment here.

Meanwhile Hazel’s stomach grew bigger, and both of their fathers were delighted at the prospect of a grandchild. Nico on the other hand was growing increasingly worried about her.

“If you were a water spirit, where would you live?” Nico asked her one night, when they were both lying in bed. She rolled over to her side to look at him.

“Probably upriver, in the forest, since the water is cleaner there,” Hazel said. “Are you planning to go looking for him?”

“I’m worried. If he doesn’t believe me about the child...” Nico said. “I mean, I don’t think he would actually do anything, but I don’t want to risk it.”

“But what can you do?” Hazel asked. “He’s powerful, and he might not want to listen even if you find him. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” Nico reassured her. “I’ll sneak around and try to find out his name. He said that holds power over him. He won’t even know I was there.”

“Just promise you’ll be careful.”

Hazel helped him sneak out of the castle the following night. Getting out of the town was a bit trickier, but the guards weren’t expecting trouble so he managed. In truth, he was more afraid of entering the forest in the dark. Nico had a pretty good night vision and the moon was almost full, which helped, but it was still so much easier to walk quietly in the halls of the castle than in a forest.

Nico followed the river while staying just out of sight of it. He really didn’t want to get caught if Percy was around. He had seemed furious last time, so who knew what he would do if he saw Nico now.

He had been walking for a long time when the river made a sharp turn. He could hear muffled voices from the other shore, and carefully moved closer. Peeking through the foliage, he could see Percy sitting on a rock with his back turned towards Nico. He was talking to a man with horns and goat legs. A satyr, if the shadows didn’t trick Nico’s eyes. Percy wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Nico blushed deeply, feeling like a peeping tom before remembering the reason he was actually there. He shook his head to clear it and concentrated on listening to the conversation.

“...been months, Percy,” the satyr said, sounding concerned. “Are you still upset about it?”

“Sorry, it’s just, I don’t know,” Percy said. “I really thought he was different, you know?”

“So you’ve told me,” the satyr said in a tone that suggested he’d heard this before. 

“I should have backed out while there were still time,” Percy said. “I don’t want to go through with this.”

“You can’t back out of a deal, you know that,” the satyr said sternly. “You will get through this, Perseus. You will.”

Perseus. Was that the name? 

Percy laughed weakly. “Thanks, Grover. I feel a bit stronger now.”

Nico wanted to stay longer, but the risk of being discovered increased with every moment. He started to make his way back, twice as careful as before. The sun was already raising when he reached the town gate again.

 _Perseus_ , he thought. He really hoped the name would be enough, if the water spirit didn’t believe him.

***

Nico was standing alone in the nursery, gently rocking the baby to sleep. He smiled down at the girl in his arms. She looked so much like Hazel, thankfully, and was so tiny and cute. Nico adored her.

“I have come for my payment,” a cold voice rang through the room. Nico turned around, already knowing who it was, but it was still a surprise to see him. The water spirit - Percy - looked haunted and almost scared, even if he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, probably attempting to seem intimidating. For some reason it calmed Nico down.

“Have you?” Nico asked, smiling slightly, which only seemed to anger him.

“How rotten are you?” Percy spat. “How can you be _smiling_ while handing over your own child?”

“I’m not going to hand her over,” Nico said calmly. “She’s not mine.”

Percy blinked, then stared at him, then blinked again. “What?” he finally asked, looking so confused that Nico couldn’t help but laugh.

“I would appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone about this,” he said. “But Hazel was already pregnant when we got married. Actually, that’s _why_ we got married, so her father wouldn’t hurt her, or her child.”

Percy continued to stare at him, then, slowly, he started to smile. “You don’t have a firstborn.”

“Nor will I ever,” Nico nodded. “Sorry, looks like you won’t be getting paid.”

Percy grinned widely now. “You planned this. That’s why you made that deal,” he said. “I thought...”

“Yeah, I know what you thought, _Perseus_ ,” Nico said, rolling his eyes. “Excuse me of not trusting you enough to tell you, but I promised Hazel, and then you started demanding babies.” 

“Hey, I only wanted to help, you know. I was sure you’d back out if I...” Percy said, then his eyes went wide. “How do you know my name?”

Nico shrugged, careful not to wake the sleeping baby in his arms. “Water spirit,” he said. “Hazel figured you’d hang around the forest part of the river, so I skulked around for a while and overheard you talking to someone.”

“You’re stalking me now?” Percy laughed, though he sounded a bit nervous. “What are you planning on doing with me, now that you know my name? Keep me as a pet?”

Nico could feel his cheeks grow hot, and tried to hide it by turning around to put the baby back into her cradle. “I’m not planning anything. You mentioned the power of names, and I didn’t want to take any risks with Hazel’s child.”

“I get it,” Percy nodded, smiling slightly. “But I don’t want the baby. I only asked for it because I thought you were getting power hungry, and would back out and realize it if I demanded something that precious.”

“I’m never going to have children of my own,” Nico shrugged. “So I figured it was a safe deal to make.” 

Percy laughed, then suddenly walked over to Nico and threw his arms around him. Nico tensed up, surprised and blushing violently.

“I was right about you after all,” Percy said into his ear, sounding relieved. "Though you could have told me. I wouldn't have sold you out." His breath was like a sea breeze against Nico’s neck. Nico shivered involuntarily. 

“Please let go of me,” he said weakly, trying to hide his body's reaction to their proximity. Percy pulled away enough to look at him, frowning a little, then his eyes widened.

“Oh, wait, you’re actually...That’s why you knew you wouldn’t get children!”

Nico pushed him away, hard. “Get out of here!” 

“Nico...” Percy said, but Nico didn’t want to hear it.

“Perseus, LEAVE!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, waking the baby behind him, who promptly started yelling as well. Nico turned his back on Percy to calm her down, and when he finally looked up again the water spirit was nowhere to be seen. Despite being the one to send him away, Nico felt like crying. He wondered if he would ever see Percy again.

***

A couple of months afterwards Frank returned from the East. Nico and Hazel managed to set up a meeting hidden from their fathers, and Hazel introduced Nico to Frank, who was suspicious and jealous at first, but it faded pretty quickly once Nico made his position clear. He decided he liked Frank, and it was obvious Hazel loved him, which meant it was time to take himself out of the equation. 

It took another month of careful planning, but in the end it was surprisingly easy. He told everyone he was taking a trip to the ocean, dug up a fresh corpse from the graveyard, dressed it in his clothes and mutilated the face (which was undoubtedly the hardest part and had Nico almost puking his guts out), then put it in a carriage and sent it over a cliff, making it seem a spring had come loose and disconnected the carriage from the horses. A tragic accident.

He had taken a long, tearful farewell of Hazel and her daughter the day before he put the plan in motion. Despite the risk, she made him promise to stay in touch anonymously. He was glad of it. Hazel and the baby were the only things he regretted leaving behind.

Well, not only things, not really. He had one more farewell to make.

Nico walked through the forest, making his way towards the river bend he’d seen Percy in last time. He could hear the church bells ringing far away, announcing his funeral. He almost wished he could have gone to see it, wondering how his father had reacted to his death. On the other hand, it was probably best not to know.

As he made his way through the foliage, he pondered whether if this was a good idea. He didn’t know if Percy would want to see him after last time, considering he never came back, but Nico wanted to at least say goodbye, and thank him for everything before he left.

As he approached, he could see Percy sitting on the stone in the middle of the river, curled up and holding his head in his hands. He was dripping wet, and seemed to be crying. Nico wasn’t entirely sure he should interrupt, but the sounds Percy was making were too heartbreaking for Nico to just leave him there. He took a deep breath, then walked forward to the edge of the river.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, and Percy’s head snapped up to stare at him. Nico could see tears in his sea-green eyes.

“Nico?” Percy asked in disbelief. “How…? Are you a ghost?”

“Oh, you heard?” Nico said, a bit surprised. “No, I’m not a ghost. I’m still alive.”

Percy walked over to him, over the water, looking bewildered. “But everyone thinks...”

“They were supposed to. I faked my death,” Nico said, then suddenly found himself on the ground with an aching jaw. He had never seen Percy move to hit him, but now the water spirit was leaning over him, looking furious as he grabbed a handful of Nico’s tunic with his fist.

“You _faked_ your death?” Percy repeated angrily. “Why the _hell_ would you do that? You could have told me. I thought you were _dead_! I _mourned_ you!”

Nico stared up at him, slowly realizing that he was the reason for the tears still evident on Percy’s face. 

“I’m sorry,” Nico said. “I… I didn’t think you’d care, after last time. I came here to apologize for that before leaving.”

“Why are you leaving?” Percy asked, still angry. “And where are you going? Explain this to me.”

“You mind letting go of me first?” Nico asked, but Percy glared at him.

“Not until you tell me why.”

“Fine,” Nico sighed. “It was the plan from the beginning: Marry Hazel, make everyone think the child was mine, and then fake my death. Now Hazel can marry Frank, the real father, who’s beneath her, but she’s already a widow with a child so I doubt her father would disapprove, and I’m free from my father, without dishonoring him. But I obviously can’t stay around here or someone will recognize me sooner or later, so I’m leaving.”

Percy looked at him for a long moment, then slowly released his grip. “That’s quite an elaborate plan.”

“Well, it worked,” Nico shrugged as he sat up, trying to right his clothes. “I just wanted to see you before leaving, to apologize and say thank you.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Or thank me,” Percy said, sitting down beside him. “I thought my meddling had gotten you killed.”

“Sorry,” Nico said again, then tensed as Percy put an arm around him and pulled him closer, resting his head on Nico’s shoulder. He was still dripping wet and slowly soaking Nico’s clothes, but Nico was too surprised to care.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said into Nico’s skin, causing an involuntary shiver down Nico’s back.

“Percy, please let go of me,” Nico said uncomfortably.

“No,” Percy said, determinedly, and Nico was just about to argue when he put a hand over Nico’s mouth. “You didn’t let me talk last time. You just sent me away, using my name. Which is really rude, you know. I wasn’t even able to enter the castle after that.”

Nico nodded against his hand, wondering where he was going with this.

“You see, I like you. I have for a while already,” he said, smiling at Nico. “And I think you like me too. And I really don’t want to lose you again, okay?”

He finally took his hand away from Nico’s mouth, which didn’t really matter since Nico was speechless anyway, staring up at him. Percy grinned at him, pulling him closer and squeezing his shoulder a little bit.

“Really, you’re harder to catch than a nymph,” he said. “First you get married, then you send me away, then you _die_ , and now you’re leaving.”

“I’m not a nymph,” Nico muttered. “And I didn’t think you were chasing me.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if I should,” Percy said. “I mean, you were getting married, but then it seemed you didn’t want to. And I didn’t even know if you liked guys.”

“I didn’t want anyone to know,” Nico said, making an undignified sound as Percy leaned in to kiss his temple.

“Humans have all these rules,” he said, shaking his head. “So what do you say? Stay with me?”

Nico hesitated. “It’s too close to the castle,” he said reluctantly. “And I can’t live in a river like you do.”

“I suspected as much,” Percy nodded, smiling bemusedly. “But I didn’t mean here, necessarily. Let me come with you.”

Nico barely dared to believe it. “Really?” he asked in a high pitched voice that didn’t sound like his own. Percy laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

Nico had never experienced a sensation like that. Percy was hot, wet and _everywhere_ , and Nico just melted into the kiss. Percy grinned at him when they finally parted.

“You know, I’ve heard of a spring up north that’s supposed to make humans immortal,” he said. “Wanna go?”

Nico smiled shyly at him. “Are you asking me to stay with you forever?”

“Now you’re getting it,” Percy said, leaning close again until their noses touched. “Was that a yes?”

Nico smiled back.

“It might have been,” he said, closing the distance between them again. He was happier than he had ever dared believe he would be.

THE END


End file.
